


Lost, Found

by Amoridere



Series: Stand Alones [8]
Category: Kill la Kill
Genre: Amnesia, Family, Feral Behavior, Human Experimentation, Medical Experimentation, Missing Persons, Mystery, Somewhat Bioshock inspired, Winter, Work In Progress, switching POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-31 00:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 43
Words: 19,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8555893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amoridere/pseuds/Amoridere
Summary: On a cold winter night, a young girl is kidnapped and she remembers little. Years later, her family still searches





	1. "Saskia

I don’t remember much. Not much besides that it was cold and I was alone. I remember something else about that but its vague. I remember her but I don’t remember to much about her, just the fact that we were together, at one point, and then I was alone and cold, without a clue as to where I was, how’d I get there, or what happened to her. 

  I was found eventually, however, it wasn’t by the right people. I was taken out of the cold and then placed into somewhere dark, with very small glints of light and a collar around my neck. I didn’t know why I was wearing it, just the fact that I was. That collar had a name on it but it wasn’t mine, not the name I used to remember. No, whoever those people were gave me the name “Saskia” and a number that I often didn’t remember. I wasn’t a favorite. 

I was almost all the time beat up by other little kids, well, ones that were bigger than me. There was one kid that didn’t beat me up. Her collar said “Marie” and her number was “24-76-544-00”. Them other kids would beat her up, too, especially since one of her eyes didn’t work as well as the other, so she was stuck seeing with one eye. She couldn’t remember her “true” name either but she remembered what it started with and that it started with an “N”.

She would tell me about what she remembered. She told me about someone before she came to the “orphanage” that smelled nice and was warm. She asked me if I knew someone like that. I told her I did but I didn’t remember too much about her, just the fact that she wasn’t there anymore and I was alone before being brought there. Marie knew more about those things, I guess, as she would say that I was “stolen”, like she was.  

  It was just the two of us against the ones in white, their needles and things, and the other kids until, one day. That day is the most vivid, yet it was almost like a dream. That day, if I can remember was in December or so I think because it was snowing. I remember hearing Marie’s voice, screaming “SASKIA!!” She would scream a few times before coming to find. I don’t recall how old we were, then again, neither one of us remembered our birthdays. We were still little and I was hearing word that she knew but I didn’t and it was the word “Raid”. At first, I thought “Raid” was the name of the stuff one of the people in white sprayed on me once, calling me a “bug”.

She wasn’t talking about that “Raid”.

 

                That was the first time, in a while, our feet touched the snow and then I was alone again.


	2. Stolen Children

I recall what had happened in those hours of the night. It was snowing and my little sister was taken from her cradle. I remember her being a toddler and she was taken. It had happened fast, fast enough that I couldn’t identify who had taken her. I recall that our parents had found me screaming for her and that they saw the open window. My father started after them but he lost them. The police were contacted and they searched everywhere, yet with so few leads, they turned up nothing before concluding that she was taken to another town.

  Since then, we never stopped searching, wondering where she had gone and, if anyone had seen her, for them to contact her and bring her home. So far, no one came forward, however, the police had managed to piece together other children being taken and drew a connection, saying that Ryuuko’s kidnapping and the fact that they hadn’t found her might have something to do with other cases, another being an orphaned girl of partial European descent named “Nui Harime”, who was about Ryuuko’s age if not slightly older. Her mother had died without knowing what had happened to her.

  I told my parents that, should either of them die, I would continue searching to bring Ryuuko home. Not too long after they mentioned her and after her case had run cold, Nui was found when someone struck her with their car. Aside from bruising she was uninjured and muttering the name, "Saskia". My parents were saddened by her plight and offered to take her in, hoping to atone for their perceived failure at protecting Ryuuko by giving an orphaned girl a home.

   "We're strangers, of course, but we cannot just leave her to the state. She's alone and she won't receive the same care in a state-run orphanage!" my mother said, insistent. My father didn't question it and those at the custody hearing wondered if she was taking in the girl as to replace the one we've lost to kidnapping those years ago. Obviously, that wasn't case, as my mother was genuine in caring for the girl and acting as a mother would be, which is to say, she felt a need to care for and protect, regardless if she had begotten this child or not. Despite the circumstances, it was agreed that my parents could have her and that she'd be sent to live with us. 

  Nui, I should note, was peculiar. In her photo, prior to her going missing, she was a normal girl or appeared to be but, now, there was something off about her. Her once sunny blonde hair turned to something a muted shade, almost a greyish white, and she had lost vision in one eye, likewise, her skin had grown paler and she had something of a lanky sort of build. She wore a loose-fitting dress of white and wore no shoes, however, her dress, while covering her, did not hide the scars on her legs or, for that matter, arms. To punctuate the oddity of her, she wore a collar around her neck.

    She was quiet and said little, speaking bits of French, whenever she did speak and only speaking when addressed. However, something would shock her out of this mutism she had when she had spotted a photo of Ryuuko. She pointed and said, "That's Saskia!" We jumped in surprise before telling her that my sister's name was "Ryuuko" not "Saskia", saying that perhaps she had made an honest mistake, yet she was insistent Ryuuko and "Saskia" was the same girl that she had known.                                                                                                   

  "Non, non, that's Saskia, that was what most of what she looked like before we were separated. Saskia' was what they called her." she said before she started to cry, saying that she didn't know what happened to her. With gestures, she told her story, saying that she went one way while Ryuuko went another. They were running together, fleeing during a raid on where they were kept, and that it had taken her some time to have reached civilization, despite it being winter and she being without food, water, warmth, or shelter, in which case, I would suppose that was why she looked so lanky. She then introduced herself as "Marie" and said that was what she was called when she held with Ryuuko.

  Gently, my father sat her down and told her that her real name was "Nui Harime" and that everything would be alright. More tears came and then she asked about Ryuuko and if things were going to be the same for her, too. We couldn't guarantee that but we did hope much of the same and asked her to tell us more about what she had experienced. She told more, more of what she could have remembered. Her memories were hazy at best but she did give clear and coherent descriptions.

She said that she was taken from her home when she decided, one night, to go outside to see more of something. She had been in the "orphanage" (as she put it, with quotation marks) longer than Ryuuko was and that she was dubbed "Marie". She said she hurt a lot and that several other children would bully her, doubly because she had lost sight in one eye and, half of the time, she couldn't see them coming, thus her weakness was exploited. She then told about when Ryuuko came and how easily they got to know each other, however, she stated that my sister was found wandering and that she remembered little of what happened before.

"She said she was alone but she wasn't always alone. She used to have someone but then she was alone and cold. She also used to cry a lot." she said, glancing away, at the photograph of Ryuuko. Quietly, she mourned a girl she had known and was quite upset to be torn away from her.

  I wondered how many children were lost to kidnapping and experiments, all while wondering what had happened to Ryuuko. Nui didn’t want to speak more of the subject, coaxing be damned, and neither of us could blame her, however, she didn’t shy away from the fact that some of the children kept there didn’t survive, reassuring me that Ryuuko was one of the ones that had.


	3. Mako and a Dream

I don’t recall where Nui went but I do know that I was alone. Not a whole lot to do when alone with no one to talk to. I don’t remember how long I was walking but I do remember I just wanted to curl up and go to sleep. I found a place to do that and slept for as long as I wanted to. I fell asleep looking at the snow, falling outside.

 The dream I had was sorta weird but really sad. I felt warm and I was being held. I was really little and I was being held by someone familiar. I was being held by a lady but I don’t remember too much of what she looked like. She seemed like someone I knew and she had to be but I just couldn’t remember exactly who she was or what she really looked like. I suppose I wouldn’t, as, in that dream, my eyes were kinda blurry.

  It was fuzzy dream and I was sad when it was over and I woke up. Of course, while I was sad, I was also sort of mad and scared because I wasn’t where I had fell asleep, actually, I was somewhere else but I was in a blanket and someone was playing in my hair. Through some whispers and whatevers, I heard her name was "Mako".  Mako was kinda weird with brown hair and matching eyes. She wore a blue dress with footies and, as I was looking at her, I figured out that someone was holding me.

This lady was holding me and I would guess that lady was her mom. She looked like her and was warm and fuzzy with brown hair and brown eyes. I guess I would stay with them, whoever they were, and get used to ‘em because they were being really nice. When she figured out that I was awake, she asked me what name was. I told her but she said, “Oh, you’re too pretty for a name like that, I’ll find you something new to call you.”

She called me “Rue” because I reminded her of a flower. I didn’t know what flowers had to do with what she called me but, then again, “Rue” does sound nicer than something she couldn’t say.


	4. Someone She Lost

It took a bit for Nui to get used to our home and routine but, as she did, she grew more curious. Once, in an idle moment, she looked at me and asked, “Are you the someone that she lost?” I was puzzled at first but then I remembered something she told me about her and Ryuuko’s time in the “orphanage” and how the latter would mention about having “someone and then being alone” and how she didn’t recall exactly who she lost, just the fact that she lost them.

  I would confirm that I probably was, to which Nui asked my name. I told her that it was “Satsuki”, while she searched her memory for something Ryuuko might have said. She found none and thus concluded that my younger sister had forgotten my name, along with her prior memories.

   I asked her if Ryuuko ever did talk about what I looked like or anything else, to which she said, “No, not really, she didn’t really say what you looked like, however, she did say that you loved her and that you two were together before she was alone. She really missed you."

  My heart broke. I wanted to cry, yet, emotions be damned. Besides Nui, Ryuuko was utterly alone, especially since, as much she probably tried and wanted to, she couldn't remember too much of what happened before, even her name. Neither could Nui, of course, and, actually, the thought of the two being separated was just as devastating, as they had only each other to rely on.

    I was left fearing of what could have happened to her. I feared that she might have been starving or had tried her damndest to find warmth but, instead, probably froze to death. I hated imagining that. Imagining her alone, covered in snow, probably wondering what the next day would be like as she froze to death. I suppose that if she did die, then I would hope for it to have been a quiet and painless death, just that she had fallen asleep and never awoke.

  Later, that night, as I lay awake, I noticed that Nui was creeping towards the window. She would open it, pull up a chair, and then she started to sing. It was a haunting song of an odd, unintelligible, language, which she sang for about a minute and thirty seconds. After a pause, she would sing this again and, after another pause, she would sing again, before trudging to her bed and going to sleep.

  I would suppose her song was her calling out to someone both of us had lost. She was probably distraught, especially when she called out, yet got no response. Silently, I wept for them both.


	5. Rue

This girl was an odd one and I’ve never seen anyone put a collar on a child before, especially since I most certainly didn’t. I consider us blessed that we’ve found her, otherwise, she will have died in the cold. It’s awful that such a little girl had to be all alone in the cold but she’s safe now. Wherever she came from, they called her a name I’ve never heard but she did state that it wasn’t her real one and that she doesn’t remember her real name, so I settled on calling her “Rue.”

I asked her a few questions, like who her parents were and where we could find them. She couldn’t state much, given that she remembered little, regardless, she didn't speak, just grunted, mostly, said grunts meaning whatever based on their tone, however, through said grunts, she communicated that, whoever, they were, she missed them. Silently, using the same grunts, she then asked if they would have missed her, too, to which I told her, “Of course, little one, you are loved, after all.” Until we could find her family, I told her, we would be hers and that we’d look after her.

  It took some time for her to get used to us, especially when Mako tried to play with her. I guess dropping snowballs on her head scared her, as her reaction was to hurry away and curl up in a corner of the RV. If she was upset, then she’d curl up, rolling away, or backing against something while squealing when I tried to hug her. Some things, after seeing how she was, started to become clear. Someone hurt her and she was quite used to being treated so terribly. I couldn’t understand as to exactly how anyone would harm a child but, regardless, I wanted to show her some love.

    If or when we find her parents, then it would be nice to have her grow used to being held. This would take some practice and I recall her screaming during one time I tried this. When I let her go, she rolled around before biting at herself, as if to scratch at something, looking at me with a combination if hurt and anger. I decided to try again sometime afterward, however, I got her with a blanket. Her reaction was to be annoyed somewhat, however, her feelings of annoyance stopped and she calmed. I guess being wrapped in her blanket reminded her of something she once had, something in which she could barely remember. She would get used to this, letting me hold her under the condition that she be wrapped in a blanket.

   Of course, I suppose one thing neither of us knew was how her eyes reflected light when it was dark and it seemed she could spot things pretty well when it was dark. Of course, that wasn’t the only thing, if anything, as she seemed to know when something was coming, considering that she was squealing loudly when she spotted a mountain lion walking around our trailer.

However, while she was squealing, whatever fear she probably had didn’t stop her from going at the thing. It was dreadful to watch as we were powerless and she put up some kind of a fight. The animal gave her a few hits, even managing to get her across the neck, cutting her throat. Regardless of her injuries, she managed to take the mountain lion down, ripping out its throat with her teeth.

  With blood dripping in the snow, she dragged the beast back to the trailer and set it down before sitting down and throwing up her hands. Her injuries didn’t faze her and had stopped bleeding. I suppose she was showing us some gratitude for our kindness or, rather, her actions, especially when she set the mountain lion down before us, reminded us that she was still a little girl, one looking for approval of her guardians. 

   It would stand to reason that mountain lion meat made a meal, on other hand, it was quite jarring to see her prowl around outside, wearing a pelt. It kept her warm but it was still odd, so, we decided it was best to let her do what she enjoyed

 

        Wherever she had come from, she certainly picked up on odd mannerisms.


	6. "Maman"

Nui was no replacement of the daughter we had lost, certainly, likewise, the same could occur for us being replacements to her parents but, it seemed, we were quite destined for each other through some way shape or form. While she didn’t remember them, she did yearn for them, settling on substitutes instead, so, it came as no surprise that she would cling to me, commenting on how warm I was and how I smelled nice. Quietly, then, she stated that she remembered someone else also feeling warm and smelling nice, however, she said she doesn’t recall who they were but, as she said, it was alright because she has someone who’ll feel warm and nice always.

   Affectionately, she started to refer to me as “Maman” and, if allowed, she would follow me anywhere. It was strange at first, I won’t deny, however, I got used to it, checking to see if she was right behind me. Playing “mother” was something I was used to, after all, I had two daughters, so it made sense for her to gravitate to me. Obviously, children deserve love and care in some form, for they are innocent and, without either, it can’t be anticipated that they’d function well. Her faded memories and poor treatment prior has stunted her but, obviously, she isn’t far beyond much repair. At least, we can see it and, if we didn’t come into her life, then more harm could have been done.

  I assume her grateful of being saved from such life, considering how much she clung to me. Frankly, her sweetness and innocence did break my heart, as she may never recover memories of her parents and the fact that she was probably aware, in some way, that they had died. I do hope that it would do her mother’s ghost some good to know that her daughter is alive and quite taken care of.


	7. Coming Out of the Shell

After some time and noticing her odd mannerisms, Barazo proclaimed Rue a “wild girl”. I suppose he was right, as she did have some wild mannerisms, especially considering that she had little fear in going after a mountain lion and roaming the forest wearing the pelt. As much as we loved her, we didn’t know how to help this “wild girl” besides to get to some “normal” habits.

As we traveled, Mako still tried to play with her, to which she’d hurry away from, however, on one instance, with a little red ball, she decided to return what she was doing. Mako had bounced a red ball to her, to which, after sitting in her usual corner for about five minutes, she decided to roll it back to her with her foot. Mako returned the gesture, which made the girl curious. This sort of game continued for a little while before she was prompted to come out of her corner. The ball made her even more curious, leaving us to wonder if she's never had toys before. Of course, she was taken from her family and, wherever she was taken to, she was probably denied living as a child should, which is to say, carefree and enjoying life. In watching her play, something cropped up.

She smiled. Usually, she squealed, cried, or anything of the sort, however, this time was different, she was smiling. For once in a long time, she was quite happy and not at all in pain. I wondered if she knew how much of a ray of sunshine she looked when she smiled but I would stop wondering when she caught herself in a mirror, in which case, she smiled more. She probably never truly knew how beautiful she was, in which case, she had just learned and was quite ecstatic.

    After she looked at herself in the mirror, she turned to me and uttered a few garbled syllables. Even though either of us could barely understand her garbling, we understood her happiness and how she was trying to express it. That night, she was quick to return a hug, without a blanket, and, later, as Mako slept, she crept over to snuggle her, resting her head, messy hair and all, on hers.

 

        She had come out of her shell.


	8. A Fall

Nui had fallen the other day, sustaining a broken wrist, necessitating a hospital visit, however, when we brought her to the hospital, the doctors were mystified as to how her wrist was broken, which is to say, her wrist just had a bruise from when she fell but that was all they could find, as her X-rays showed up little. While validating our worries, they told us that all was fine and it was just a misunderstanding due to her not being a child of our family and thus not knowing her medical history.

Besides some pain and the bruise, she was unharmed and, so, the doctors sent us home with well wishes and such. Nui never spoke much else about her and Ryuuko's experiences but I figured her then broken wrist had something to do with them. Besides that said experiences concerned experiments and that some children had died, she didn’t say much more of them or what they were for, however, odds are, with hazy memories, she might not really know or remember, thus leaving for us to speculate. Regardless, we feared asking her, just as she likely feared remembering, fearing that whoever had brought her to the “orphanage” would come after her for what she remembered. While she never voiced if she had such a fears, it wasn't outside of any possible realm that she would be terrified.

That wasn't the only incident like that, as, sometime after, while we were playing in the forest, she had tripped and fallen into a small but rocky ravine, receiving a skull fracture, the which actually had her bleeding. We rushed her to the hospital but, again, while the doctors validated our worries, they told us that she was fine, aside from a cut and a bruise to the head. They patched her up and sent her home.  There were many incidents like that and each ended the same, until my mother just settled on allowing her injuries to heal on their own and not bringing her to the hospital unless dire, as she feared what kind of attention the child could bring, citing the that someone could want to take Nui away because of her extreme and oft quick healing.

It was protection as we would call not bringing her to the hospital. Protection from the public and protection from the anyone of nefarious interests. Nui didn't mind this, as she never like hospitals, despising them with every fiber of her being. Her reason for such a proverbial hatred of them she never gave, just the fact that she hated them before shying away from saying more. For fear of triggering the unpleasant, we didn't press her for answers and allowed what she knew to be at her discretion.

 


	9. Garbled Words and Worn Pages

As she bonded with us, Rue started to allow us to get closer to her. On one such occasion, I was read the girls a book, to which she, in her garbled words, ask about. I told her that it was a story and that she could read from it if she wants. She tilted and let out an, "Uh?" Apparently, she was mostly illiterate, as she recognized a few of the words from the pages, three words being "mama", "flower", "dad" and "bug".  When I said the word "bug", she shook her head with an upset expression, before walking over to the collar we took from her neck and rested on a shelf, pointing to it.

Whatever she had gone through had taught her the word "bug" and she showed that by pointing to herself, letting out an upset grunt. As only could, with garbled words and gestures, she told us that she didn't like the word "bug" and, while proving my initial assumption of her being illiterate to be wrong, she explained that she wasn't _allowed_ to read, thus, she doesn't know too many words but could read otherwise.  According to her, with gestures to herself, she was called a "Bug" and she was puzzled by the fact I said she could read from the book if she wanted to because she wasn't allowed to. Gently, I told her that she wasn't a "bug" and that all was fine and that there are nice things .

   By that point, she was upset but, after a bit of reassurance, she calmed and settled back in, listening more to story, focusing intently on the words, pulling them into whatever memory bank she had at the time. With garbled speech, she tried to mimic the words, the only word we could make out was "Mama". It was garbled but we could understand, leaving her content that she was understood.

  Since then, in her spare time, when she wasn't playing with Mako or napping, she would be laying on her stomach, looking at a book. We didn't have many books but, regardless, she's made them her entertainment from time to time, often reading one again and again. Once, I found her sleeping with a book under her, as, clearly, she had fallen asleep mid-read. When she awoke later, she continued where she had groggily left off.

While she had learned how to read, she wasn't as well versed in writing, regardless, she attempted her hand at it. The words she would remember came out jumbled on paper but her efforts were genuine. This awoke more of the mystery to her, leaving us to wonder if she was denied any semblance of a normal education. All evidence of her struggling to write and her curiosity with books pointed towards that.

  We knew so little about her but we did know that, wherever she was taken to, from her family, she was not cared for well, however, we dreaded the implications. I could only imagine the agony of her family in them not knowing what had happened to her for all of those years. Surely, I couldn't think of the same happening to Mako, leaving me to wonder as to how Rue's mother is faring.


	10. Instinct

Satsuki, I think that's what her name is, as I can't remember, seemed upset. She won't say why but I know. I know because she was on this thing I remember being called a "computer" and her face went blank for a moment. Apparently, people can find out news on the "internet" and whatever news she found out wasn't good news. It was really bad news she found and she didn't want to talk about it. She didn't need to.  It wasn't hard to tell what was bothering her about the news. I could see it, as her eyes darted around the screen.

On the screen was news of dead kids. Those kids were found with the same kind of collars and, like myself, they were stolen. I don't remember too much of the raid but I do remember that of us escaped, however, I can't recall how many. Some, according to the computer, went home to their families, so not all the news was bad, but they would never be the same. The ones that died were not listed by name, instead they were called by the "Child" and whatever the number on their collars were. I was afraid, very, especially since I wasn't listed by name or number.

What made it worse was that one kid, "Child 00-000-000-0001", wasn't a "kid" anymore. She was something else and, whatever she turned into, they couldn't call it "human". I don't really know what anyone'd call whatever she turned into but she came in as a kid and left as something else. I guess “animal” would be the closest thing they could call her but it just didn’t seem right, as she was human, deep within, a little girl, not much different than Ryuuko and me. Either way, she came in human and left as something not human and she was among one of the dead ones. She was the first of us they found and that was because they had found her dying. They only found out who her parents were through a test and that was it, as her parents couldn’t recognize her by looking at her. No one could do anything for her and her body was shutting down, so, while her parents held her, they gave her some medicine so she wouldn't hurt anymore while she went. It didn't take much for them to put two and two together, connecting what happened to _her_ with what happened to _them_.

  Sadly, Sats learned that there were too many of them. There was something that we had known and we didn't have to talk about it.

Among the others, Ryuuko, "Saskia- 27-78-547-00", wasn't there and neither was she any of them.

 

 


	11. Fear

I was terrified by what I had turned up, being awakened to what horrors Nui could have very well have endured. Some of the children were returned to their families, while, horrifically, weren’t as lucky. _Was Ryuuko one of them?_ It seemed she wasn’t, certainly, she had to have survived.  What had me reeling was how the first case had turned out and, while she wasn't described too much nor was her picture shown, I was left wondering the suffering she probably would have had before her morphine-filled last moments in her parents' arms.

If _that_ happened to her, then that would beg the question as to _what_ either Nui and Ryuuko could have turned into. The news report didn't say much but the article did mention her parents initially couldn't recognize her because of what she had become. Her story was some years ago, yet, until a connection was made, it went untold until now. Mother's fears weren't unfounded and that left me to wonder exactly how many children were left with devastating effects or whether or not they'll be in pain or die after. Nui, I could say, was lucky, as, besides her oddness, she was retained normalcy.

Because we had Nui in our care, I was afraid of what could not only happen to her but what could happen to us. Likewise, while Ryuuko, according to her companion and her absence in the news reports, survived, I feared as to whether or not she could succumb to whatever effects the experiments had left behind. Knowing the agony my parents had lived with not knowing as to whether or not Ryuuko would be alright made me wonder as to what those other children's parents' feelings might have been. I could only imagine what they were, yet, I couldn't be either any more accurate or any more wrong. 

   As I sat absorbing this information, I wondered if I should bring up the idea that we flee and take Nui with us. Surely, it would look suspicious but I didn't know what else to do, as, clearly, we had reason to fear someone not wanting the child alive or wanting her alive but wishing to continue any suffering she may have endured just to limits of all that is impossible and possible. At least, her mother died before knowing any of this but my parents were very much alive and my mother could sense it.

  While we knew that Ryuuko was still alive, we couldn't tell for exactly how long she was to remain that way and could only pray that she was in safe hands. I suppose some reassurance was all we needed, as Nui, after awhile of staring out of the window, at the fallen snow, she turned to me and said, "She is."

 


	12. Winter Tears

It was a cold night, colder than the last one, and, unlike before, she was up, crying out at the window. Her vocalization contained no words but it spoke of an untold sadness. The snowfall, it seems, have conjured up a memory. At first, with her making this distinct cry, I thought she wanted to go outside but I was wrong, as, when I asked her, she became upset, with tears streaming down her face, allowing me to hold her in my arms.

   While garbled, her words were easy to make out. She stated that she missed someone she had lost but doesn't quiet remember when she had seen her last, just that it was a long time ago. As she cried and through garbled speech, she stated that this someone had loved her and that she wished she was there. She also told me that she didn't know if this someone was okay and feared that she wasn't. Calmly, I reassured her that this "someone lost" is looking for her and that she's probably alright, however, this someone had missed her just as much as she missed her. She calmed for a moment before going back to sleep.

The next morning, she rushed out into the snow and started crying out again. She was at this for 20 minutes before coming inside. In those 20 minutes, I realized that she was crying out for a different someone, in which case, she was crying out for someone named, "Marie". She stopped when she realized that particular someone wasn't answering back and won't because they were a long ways off from each other. Like the night before, she turned to me for comfort. I reassured her that this "Marie" is alright and then she'll be reunited with them in due time.


	13. Retreating to the Forest

Not knowing what else to do, we gathered up our belongings, locked up our house, left the authorities our contact information, and left, retreating to my mother's isolated cabin, in Colorado. "It's better this way, surely, we need to get away for a while." my father said, as my mother cradled a sleeping Nui. I couldn't question this but I knew this wasn't like other times we came to this cabin. Instead of vacationing, we were coming out of protection, to hide from prying eyes, poisonous whispers, and maleficent intentions.

A few days before, I was told to tell no one at school and my parents said little to anyone we knew, besides that we were planning to go away for a little while but we didn't know as to when we'd be back. Obviously, they weren't lying  as we really didn't know as to when we'd return home but, for subconscious reasons, reasons we couldn't identify, we couldn't stay home, nevertheless, our departure, while sudden, was for safety, to evade who could want to find us.

From there, my parents still assisted in the investigation. Life was on an edge since we arrived at the cabin. We seldom left it, unless neccessary, so we'd spend our time inside of it, passing time by doing relatively silent activities, Nui especially, having spent a good chunk of her time "hibernating". Sometimes, she'd venture outside, roaming through the forest and climbing trees, letting out an eerie cry. Sometimes, she'd bring things back from her forest roamings, usually dried floral remains, branches, and bits of bark, however, one case of such bringing back, she came back with bones.

They were animal bones, obviously, since some of them were fish bones, found near a creek 20 miles away. She never said why she brought them back, just that she did. With nothing else to explain the phenomenon, my parents ask if she was alright but she reassured them that she was fine. The incident was only one time, however, something seemed to draw her back to the creek but, instead of bringing back bones, she brought back fish and, at one point, a muskrat. Sufficiently, she deduced that fish were edible but we weren't sure as to why she'd brought a muskrat back, however, I suppose she just didn't know that muskrats are not human food, along with it being alive.

The fish we ate but the muskrat we let go. Since then, my mother tasked me with looking after Nui during her wanderings and, likewise, she made sure to come looking for us after a couple of hours, 20-mile walk be damned. Something about the activities made her uneasy.

 


	14. Snowstorm

**Music Playing:** _[Snowfield](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNSq1qf5ZFk)_  (Satsuki's Half)

* * *

 

She was apprehensive and, unlike previous times, she wasn't interested in going outside. It was windy and radio wasn't picking up any signal besides hiss. Besides the winds, the weather looked reassuring, yet, Rue wouldn't budge from her corner, preferring to stay there. Mako and I were outside for a moment until the winds grew worse, driving us indoors. By this point, like an irritated baby, she was squealing loudly, leaving us to wonder if she’s never encountered blizzards before. We were safe to assume as her squeals were different than from the time with the mountain lion, considering that they were higher pitched (the previous time had lower pitches).

   While the storm frightened her, she would calm when Mako wrapped her arms around her and refused to let go. As the storm raged on, quietly, she took comfort, staying calm, even drifting in and out of sleep, while the storm raged on, even threatening to shatter the windows with intense cold, winds, and ice.

* * *

Nui was awake, her attention fixated on the windows, as a blizzard raged on outside. At first, we'd think it to be fear but, no, it was not, it was curiosity. She knew what winters were, certainly, but, in the all the time she'd been at the orphanage, she's never gone outside or lived a normal life since then, thus, she was mesmerized by the snowstorm outside. I never did find those things mesmerizing, just dismal, a reminder of the sister that was kidnapped those years ago.

Ryuuko was taken in the winter, just like she, yet, she was curious about the storm which unearthed bitter memories. The day before the night she was kidnapped, if I recall, we were playing in the snow, and, that morning on the night she was kidnapped, the snowfall was heavy and there was no school that day, so we just did things inside. The memories of happier moments with her are mostly faded but they were painful and bitter to think about. Nui's mother died without knowing what happened to her and, while Nui assured us that she had survived and was alright, we had no real way of that for sure. The winter she was taken was beginning to bitter memories and to winters without her. 

 


	15. The News

We couldn't typically get a television signal but we did get a radio signal as we travelled since the snowstorm. There wasn't much to listen to, except for the news. The news wasn't usually interesting but, this time, something had happened. Apparently, something strange had happened in the outer skirts of Marshall County, Indiana. A family by the name of "Kiryuuin" had left quite suddenly, however, that wasn't the most unusual part, it was the fact that a mailman reported finding some kind of note in their mailbox, written in red ink, and, since then, the property was marked a crime scene

Barazo and I found that puzzling and wondering if the Kiryuuins were alright. Barazo had vague memories of the Kiryuuins as he recalled that they had lost a daughter, some years ago. He told me that, if his memory was correct, that their daughter was kidnapped and that no one has seen neither hide nor hair of her since and that they came into the news when they reported her missing. He said that he didn't recall what her name was or what the girl looked like or, except that she was Mako's age and looked to be about the same size as she was.  We agreed generally that we sincerely hoped that the Kiryuuins do find their daughter and that she would be alright.

Rue seemed to be unaffected by the news, then again, she never paid attention, not that there was much to pay attention to.  Surely, if she did pay attention, I don't see how she would draw a connection between the Kiryuuins and herself. In thinking of the Kiryuuins, I was left wondering if perhaps there was a connection but I just couldn't make any, as, while Rue mentioned a "mama" she didn't describe what she looked like or say her name, likewise, she didn't mention much of who the "someone she lost" or "Marie" were.


	16. Mam's Fears

After a while of roaming the forest and going to the creek, Mam forbade the activities, saying how she was afraid for our safety, thus deeming any explorations beyond the backyard unsafe for reasons she couldn't say. Regardless of explanations, I would suppose she was justified in feeling afraid of things she couldn't identify, after all, clearly, we had a storm of strangeness brewing over us. If only the storm would calm and, as far as we knew, it wasn't fair that we had to live amongst it but, as I should know, no one said life was fair and, as I could say, remembering that my sister was stolen, life was never fair.

Things would get stranger when our house was shown on the news and it had yellow tape surrounding it. According to the report, a mailman found a note written in red ink in our mailbox not too long after we left and the authorities thought it best to close off the area, labeling it a crime scene. They never revealed the name of the postal worker who found the note and neither did they reveal where we went (of course, we never told anyone where we were going). Upon hearing that, my mother harshly whispered, _"We **can't** go back...."_

I was puzzled and Nui was somewhat unphased by what news report was but then something clicked. Someone was after Nui or knew something that we didn't. Regardless, Mam was right and there was no way we could return to our home. The cabin became our home now, however, it felt more akin to a refugee camp, a prison of sorts, a place where we were only there out of protection, of our own safety.

That wasn't the only thing that alarmed us, as, one night, Nui awoke screaming and thrashing for reasons she could not describe. My mother would have suggested it to be a night terror, citing that I've had them some time after Ryuuko's kidnapping and disappearance, however, Nui was aware of anything save whatever she awoke from. When she settled, she said, "Fire." before becoming frantic again. No amount comforting to dispel her hysterics and, after about an hour, she calmed and went back to sleep for the rest of the night and a good chunk of the morning.

However, this bout of hibernation would be interrupted briefly, when she, in a state between being awake and asleep, she muttered, _"Bear."_


	17. Bad News Bears

**Music Playing:** _[We've Both Changed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ1AEs77Jl4) _ by  Patrick Doyle (from 0:00-about 2:03)

* * *

 

 _"Bears are bad news."_ Dad always said. He never said why they were, just that they were, but I guess its because bears are big and, usually, things that are big could hurt someone, so, in which case, bears were bad news. What Dad said is something him, Mom, and I lived by because it's true or, rather, it can be, anyway. I suppose I should have told Rue about that but, then again, there was the one time with the mountain lion. 

That kinda thing would happen again with a bear. It's cold out, wintertime, and bears are supposed to be sleeping but this one wasn't. It was up, awake, and real, real mad. Dad, Mom, and me were scared but Rue wasn't, as she was screaming at it. While she screamed, she ran outside and screamed at it some more. The bear didn't like that swatted at her, getting her in the face. The bear riled her up and, as we could tell, even though we could barely see them, her eyes were as red as hot coals. She decided that she didn't like what the bear did and they had a fight.

It scratched, bit, and threw her around but she wouldn't stop. She got it in the eye and then the nose and then she kept going. Neither one of them was going to go down without a fight and they were going to make that clear to each other. It was a peccary going against a coyote, except the bear was coyote and Rue was the peccary. The fight was on for a good while, turning the snow red in snakey trail and throwing hair everywhere

With a final blow, a bite to the neck, the brown beast was done, dead, history, another day that the wind blows. To her, the bear wasn't heavy, as she dragged it back to the RV and sat next to it. She was messed up pretty bad but she didn't seem to let it get her and the bear she had torn up something fierce. Some things we just couldn't do like Rue could. She went after a puma and lived and she, while we watched, took down a bear. Compared to her, that bear was huge, way the hell bigger than her, a monster, and that, compared to the bear, she was tiny, the size of a kitten.

 

        A kitten took down a monster and is shrugging it off. Mom and Dad patched her up and, apparently, we were eating good that night.

 


	18. Fleeing, yet Again

Sometime after Nui's nightmare, my parents bought an RV and, taking what we brought with us and then some more, we fled, leaving the cabin behind. They tried to play innocent, saying we were going on something of a "staycation" or something like that, a road trip, regardless, we knew, they just didn't want us to be afraid. Neither Nui nor I could protest this, so we just gave them the benefit of the doubt, after all, it was for our protection.

They never said where we were going, just that we didn't tell anyone, not that we had anyone to tell things to.  We just drove most of the time, seldom stopping, unless necessary. If we didn't sleep in the RV, we stayed in motels with Mam and Dad alternating times that they would stay up and keep watch. We didn't usually stay in one place for very long but we traveled practically all over the states before settling in an RV park in Vermont.

 Being the most northern most, the winter was even more dreadful. To be honest, for our protection be damned, I hated wintertime Vermont. We often hovered in the RV and, very seldom, with the blistering cold,  were we allowed outside. Neither Nui nor I ever really made any friends, as the other children found us strange, leaving us with feral cats and stray dogs for company. In any other season, I figured Vermont would have been nice otherwise but, in that winter, I hated it. 

We were surviving, certainly, safe for as all we knew (which wasn't much, as our knowledge in regards was limited) but, alas, we were stagnating in Vermont. Mam sensed this but there wasn't much on the subject she nor Dad could do about it. They hated wintertime Vermont just as much as we did, however, we were there for a reason and that was that, end of the subject.

 We usually had little to speak of, however, something made the news. Apparently, our garage was set ablaze and was burnt until it was nothing but ash and rubble. The rest of our house was unharmed and, since then, the rest of our property was blocked off and barricaded. No incidents have happened since but, clearly, it spooked us. Thinking back on that, what my mother had said prior was cemented as truth in the moment we received the news.

 

        Someone was after the girl.


	19. Then Called “Rue”, now Called “Ryuuko”

We stopped at a Wal*Mart to get some supplies. Being frightened, Rue opted to stay in the RV and nap. We were in there for a while before we went to check out. As we checked out, I felt Mako tugging on me before she pointed to a flyer on a bulletin of missing children. Immediately, bells started ringing in my head and, once we finished checking out, I asked if I could have a copy of it.

While Rue slept, Barazo and I read over it. On the flyer was the photo of a little girl, about two or three, if not four years old, black hair with streaks and blue eyes, along with a bow in her hair, while wearing a pale pink nightgown. According to the details in flyer, she was a toddler and that she was stolen in the middle of a winter night. Her name was listed as “Ryuuko Kiryuuin”, along with listing a few other features identified on her, including a birthmark in the shape of a heart and another one in the shape of a star. This picture was the only recent photo her family could provide and they did leave their contact information in the flyer, along with urgings to contact Marshall County law enforcement if she was seen or found.

After reading the flyer a few times, I let her sleep but something about Rue caught my eye when I noticed a marking on her back. I looked closer and found it was star shaped. When we found her and took her in, we didn't notice this, however, said marking is small and quite easy to miss on first glance. It was fascinating and, as I was looking at that, I noticed something with one of  her feet. Faintly, on her lower ankle, spreading slightly down the heel, has a heart shape. Like the star, this one was hard to see, even more so than the star because this one was lighter in comparison to the rest of the surrounding area on her leg, regardless, when I looked close enough, I could see it. As soon as I noticed, something really clicked, especially considering the birthmarks, what little she remembered, what she's endured, her age , and the timeline. 

Rue was not "Rue", she was instead the long lost "Ryuuko Kiryuuin". I wondered how she'd take the news that we now know her real name and could find her family, the family she could barely remember. She's probably be confused and would likely be upset by the development. If we did come across her family, we'd have to give her back and, honestly, it would hurt to see her go but it'd be for the best as her family has suffered enough and they, just as she, deserve closure.

  For that moment, while she slept, she was unaware of her true name and a tidbit of her past. She was innocent, innocent to the misfortune she and her loved ones had to endure, and, sincerely, I hope she wouldn't be too devastated. However, in knowing the Kiryuuins left their home in Marshall County, I can't help but to wonder as to how we could possibly reunite them with their daughter if law enforcement haven't a clue as to where they went and, frankly, I feard telling law enforcement, as there was no way could officially guarantee that she'd be safe.

 

        Regardless, she needed to know, at least, what her name was and that her family was still looking for her, telling her that she'd see them again eventually.


	20. 52-Hertz Whale

We had little to preoccupy ourselves with but Nui seemed to be curious about a "lonely whale".  She'd talk about it, saying about how it was the "loneliest whale", expressing that the thought was rather sad. Dad made a connection that, not long ago, before we fled our home, a couple of times, Nui had made some sort of cry into the darkness and, in getting no response, she was saddened.

 "The 52-Hertz whale is lonely because it sings, yet doesn't get a response, much like Nui does. Nui cries out for Ryuuko but Ryuuko doesn't hear and, thus, cannot and does not respond. I assume Nui's song and cry was probably how the two would communicate, sadly, she's left with that communication broken." he said, before saying that she found the idea of someone being just as lonely as she felt to be cathartic.

I told him that she wasn't too lonely because she was with us, to which he said, "Yes, she is, but she is without someone she clung to and, knowing the situation with her mother, Nui never got closure. Then again, likewise, we never got closure for what happened to Ryuuko, besides that she's still alive, but, wherever she is, I do hope she is faring well and, if someone is looking after her, that they look after her well."

He then went on to say that Ryuuko probably cried out for her and was equally upset that she never got an answer. "Being without a loved one is hard to imagine, let alone to deal with, even more so when one calls out and gets no response. In which case, the 52-Hertz whale calls out and, seemingly, gets no response, just like Nui does. We call out to her, in some way, and we haven't a response, leaving us to wonder if, somehow, she'd find her way back to her." he said.


	21. True Name

 Marie said something about a true name but its weird that Mako's mom is calling me by that name. According to her, they have a picture of me and that my true name is "Ryuuko". She told me that my real family was looking for me and that we'd find them someday. I wasn't real, real sure what to think about that but I guess that's a good thing. I knew what my true name was now but I didn't know Marie's. Did she find her true name, too?

I don't know if she did because I haven't seen her since the "raid". I asked if Marie found her family and her true name but Mako's mom said she didn't know but said she thinks she did and that, wherever she was now, she was safe and, probably happy. I asked if I would see her again but none of us knew. She told me that I might, someday, someday perhaps soon.

  Either way, I wasn't "Rue" anymore but I was "Ryuuko" and "Ryuuko" is  my true name.


	22. Sea Shells

I grew tired of how cold and dreary Vermont looked and suggested we’d go to California where it is sunnier. Souichiro would argue with this but, as with some arguments, I was adamant, saying that the children need some sunshine and that we were stagnating in Vermont, thus he lost. Of course, with it being as cold as it is here and the fact the children have very little to do here, there was no getting around my choices, so, after a little while of being there, we packed up shop and headed to California.

The recurrent sunshine and cool autumnish air seemed to have perked up the girls' spirits. To pass the time and distract from our situation, I would often take them to the beach, this sort of thing leading for Nui to collect seashells of various kinds. Eventually, Satsuki had come up with the bright idea to buy a shoebox for which where Nui to keep her seashells, however, if the Nui didn't keep her seashells in the box, then she would line them up neatly in little rows.

Sometimes, she'd rearrange them into formations and, other times, she'd stack them. She would leave them like that for awhile before putting them back in the box. Like back at the cabin, she had an odd fixation and we didn't know why, then again, in all consideration, she's never been to a beach and neither had she known life outside of the orphanage.

While I didn't quite grasp her fixation or why arranged them the way she did, I would have assumed she was trying to figure out what they were. I came to the conclusion of getting her book on marine life or, rather, to the least, seashells when I went out the next time I got the chance. As I thought about that, I couldn't help but wonder if she could even read. Perhaps, from what I could tell, she could, just not too well, considering that she'd deduce what the story was about by looking mostly at the pictures, yet, while that was her conclusion, she had to fill in whatever blanks she mentally had, sans any words she hadn't learned.

  I suppose her fixation and her difficulties reading was more to the mystery of from whence she had fled from.


	23. Like a Salmon to the Stream

As we traveled, we found ourselves in Colorado, whereupon, Ryuuko started to act strangely. It was as though she had known something and was trying to draw our attention to said something. She hadn't verbalized but it seemed she wanted us to go in some direction. At her insistence, we went into whatever direction she pointed us into. She led us to a cabin in the woods.

Perhaps, in what she could remember, she recognized the route to this cabin. The cabin, while beautiful, was devoid of anyone there and the doors and windows were locked, outside of a dog door. It was cut off from civilization, practically, except for the road, and the name plate had said "Kiryuuin". It wasn't hard to conclude that this cabin was owned by Ryuuko's family, however, they were nowhere to be seen, leaving us to wonder as to where they could have gone off to.

However, as we wondered this, without any hesitance, Ryuuko had crawled through the dog door, letting out some come kind of cry when she got inside. From within the walls and as we watched through the windows, she scrambled around the cabin before exiting back through the dog door, with a comforter and a framed photograph in her mouth and a stuffed animal in her hand. It wasn’t hard to tell that she was heartbroken.

    We wanted no more than to have her returned to her family, to reunite her with her loved ones, but, sadly, they were nowhere to be found.

We left the cabin with her wrapped in that blanket, clutching dearly to that photograph. If any semblance of who she was resurfaced in memories, then she had much a reason to be mournful. She barely remembered who she was and, in the end, the search for her family brought nothing, leaving for us to continue. 

 


	24. Stitches

Satsuki spends a lot of time by herself, mostly. She found something to do, said something needed sewing. Maman did this but it wasn't as often as Satsuki did. She didn't sew in a pattern, just stitched. Maman sewed in patterns like flowers but Satsuki didn't, she just stitched. If she wasn't doing anything else, she'd sit by the window and stitch. 

I doubted there was anything I could do to cheer her up, especially since Ryuuko wasn’t here. I know she is alive somewhere but I don’t know where and we haven’t found her. I guess, when Satsuki was stitching, she was trying to stitch up her heart. Her heart had been broken for years and, as far as she knew, she'd never see Ryuuko again. I don't really know what that is like but I do know she feels alone.

As far as I knew, I was always a "one kid" but she was a part of a pair, so she's not whole, I guess. Ryuuko wasn't whole, especially since she didn't really remember her

Satsuki could and, while she never really said, it must have hurt. I can't be what she lost and neither can they be what I lost, if I lost anything. I guess her stitches were the one thing she could do and her stitches was the things that she had her way on.

 


	25. Nonsense Song

**Music Playing:** _Teddy _

* * *

 Most of what Ryuuko said was garbled syllables, an odd language, and some clear words, however, it seemed, today, she thought it fit to compose it in a poem, to which Mako, following behind her, wrote down. I couldn't tell if she was aware of the slew of words she said but we could assume she had some understanding, since she would change up the order in which she's said them every other time.

We'd dub her poems "nonsense songs", since, after a little bit, she'd say what she said with a melodious cadence. We'd call them such because, to anyone who wasn't her, they made little sense, in which case, they were nonsense. Regardless, Mako thought of them as lyrical and sang along with her, even if she didn't quite understand. I should note that her song, nonsensical or not, sounded somewhat melancholic, however, I wondered if she had recalled what she thought a song or lullaby sounded like from memory but she couldn't recall exactly what it was.

  A lot of times she sang them, she'd be sitting by the window with a faraway look in her eyes. It seemed, again, she was calling out to someone who she hoped to hear her, someone who's lost her and that she's lost in return.


	26. Photographs

Mama had taken to looking at photographs. I hated them because of they were just still frames of a life prior, a reminder of what was. Ryuuko was still gone and we didn't know exactly how she was faring, regardless, she was alive somewhere. Nui would look at them, too, and she was fascinated, enamored with the life we once had.

  Most of the photos of Ryuuko we had were of her as baby until her toddler years when she was three or four, before we lost her.  We had photos of me of since then but none of them had me smiling. The last time, I could recall, that I was happy was when I had sister and, now, she was gone, somewhere and without us.

We weren't whole, we were incomplete, and thus I hadn’t any real reason to smile. I could only imagine how lost she was, as, like Nui, she remembered little and is a long ways off from home. Wherever she was, she must be heartbroken, searching and calling out for those to whom she loved, yet couldn't remember.

Any photograph of her cast a shadow, one that couldn't be dispelled. I couldn't stop them from taking her away and, yet, I felt it was my fault we hadn't found her. Since she was born, she's learned to rely on me for protection, to keep herself, to right her world, yet, she was gone, out there, somewhere, alone practically, amnesiac, at the mercy of anyone or anything that'd come across her. The shadow those photographs had cast was one of guilt.

  It was the kind of guilt one would probably have if they knew a loved one passed away of an event that they had survived, only she hadn't died. I wondered if her kidnappers really wanted me but found her an easier target because of her age and size, her inability to put up any resistance. Of course, I know that most likely couldn’t have been the case, as Nui is about the same age as Ryuuko, thus they probably wanted younger children for whatever purposes nefarious.


	27. "Mama"

**Music Playing:** _[Forgotten Sorrow (cover)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvg2-C8kdQ8)  _ by Paperblossom and Strawbelly Cake

* * *

 

It seemed that some of Ryuuko's memories started to return when she started to recognize one of the figures in the photograph she had taken out of her family's cabin. In her rather garbled voice, a clear "Mama" could be made out. She pointed to the woman with her hair coiled in a bun, holding a baby, repeating the word, saying, as she could, that the woman, Mrs. Kiryuun, was her mother. Of course, as she remembered her and after she said "Mama", tears started to well up in her eyes. 

She seemed tempted to call out for her but didn't so she just curled up and cried. I held her and, interestingly, she let me. I couldn't replace her mother, obviously, and she knew this but, nevertheless, glad to have someone there to cling to her time of being alone. Knowing how Ryuuko felt, I _really_ had to wonder as to how her mother was feeling at that moment.

This girl was stolen from her family when she was about three or four years old and was put through some horrific things that no child had to go through and her family probably haven't a clue that she's alright, now, much less of what became of her. Likewise, she doesn't know what become of them since she was taken or how much things have changed, just the fact that, whatever she's endured, she's affected adversely and that she can recall little of her life before.

    "Mama" was someone she could recognize and was heartbroken that she was not with her.  I could only assume her "Mama" was in just as much heartache if not even more. Wherever she was, Mrs. Kiryuuin, was weeping for her lost child and awaiting answers as to what could have happened to her baby.

* * *

Mam woke up in the middle of the night. The fact that she did wasn't unusual, however, it was the fact that she had awakened crying. We couldn't ask her why but it needn't to be said. Somewhere, out there, she could feel Ryuuko's sadness and how much she must have suffered. Usually, when her babies are distress or upset, she'd stop at nothing to hurry to and hold them, to reassure, to protect, but, in this case, she could feel Ryuuko's anguish and, with not knowing where she is, she couldn't go to her.

For some time, she's just mourned her lost child but, overtime, she kept her mourning silent and tried her damnedest to be strong but, in this moment, this night, she just shattered, showing what she was underneath. 

   More than Ryuuko was stolen when she was taken away from us. When her kidnappers took her away, they had taken every single possible scenario and experience we would have had over the years, especially depriving our mother of what she would do when her babies were hurt.

In that moment, I realized how much she truly suffered because, besides feeling an immense loss, it was clear that she never forgave herself for her failure in protecting Ryuuko and, for that failure, she's punished by, not only having her daughter kidnapped,  but also being reminded of how much was stolen and how she wished she could have done something.

Essentially, the loss of Ryuuko to kidnapping could have been easily compared to a miscarriage, as her not being there was awful but, to our mother, it was like Ryuuko had died before she had a chance to be born and, thus, not only did she have a loss but a reminder of memories the loss had robbed her of, especially, how losing Ryuuko had robbed her of a child she would hold and comfort during a moment of anguish.


	28. "Weird Dude"

We made our way to another supply stop, while Ryuuko stayed in the corner of the RV where she couldn't be seen. Sukuyo and Coconut went into the store to get some cereal and whatevers, as Ryuuko ate it all. She was sleepin' and had a long night two nights ago but that was okay because she was just sleepy and usually is, so, while she was curled up like a baby, I decided to read the funnies. I didn't get a new page of funnies but, eh, what the hell, it's reading material and, well, I ain't got anything else to read.

Anywho, while I made my way to reading the funnies, I get a knock at the door. _Aw hell, did I park in a handy-spot again?_ I thought someone was knocking to tell me about parking in a spot I'm not supposed to park in again but, no, actually, it was this weird dude. Not a whole lot about this weird dude but he is a weird dude, one of those kind of weird "men in black" dudes, the kind that stand out, except he was wearing something of a gray. Either way, he stood way out and I didn't like it.

   He said he wanted to talk and that he'd like to come in. Now, I'm not a man of "great knowledge" but I know damn well that no one needs "great knowledge" (or whatever some bullshit) to know this dude was bad news and the smart thing to do would not be to let bad news in. I told him, "I'm fine, not interested in what your selling." He told me it'll only take a minute but, still, I told him, "No, not interested, now if you want to talk, talk, but I'm not letting you in here."

 

"Please, surely, this'll only be but a minute."

 

"Nope, uh-uh, you're fine where you're at."

 

"Please, if I may, it's very important and must be discussed in private, so I must come inside."

 

"Mmm, must not be that  important, then."

 

"Please, it'll--"

 

"I got a shotgun."

 

        I didn't really have a shotgun, of course, but "Weird Dude" didn't know that, either way, the moment I said that, he left. By now, Ryuuko was awake and hiding, scared. It would take no guesses that there was something really wrong about that dude. I couldn't really shake a feeling about "Weird Dude" besides him being a weird-ass dude who's nothing but bad news. Of course, Ryuuko was hiding, so she had to have heard him and woke up. She didn't know this weird dude and neither did I, nevertheless, the dude was bad news and bad news needs to stay out.

  When Coconut and Sukuyo came back, I told them two things. One, that we needed to get a shotgun with bullets, and two, we needed to get the hell out of here. We left, stopped at a gun shop, got a shotgun and bullets, got back on the road, and set up shop in the furthest corner of an RV lot.

I told Sukuyo about the weird dude and she asked me as to why he would want to come in to which I said, "I don't know but I have a feeling it has something to do with Ryuuko, either way, if I see that dude again, I'm gonna kill 'im."

 

        I'd be damned if I, the man of the house, let someone hurt any of the kids.


	29. Sunglasses Men

Nui seemed to be on edge, so much so that her usual behavior patterns had changed. Usually, she was curious about all things she was taken from but, instead, she just wanted to stay inside. We asked her as to what she was upset about but, while she confirmed it was something, she couldn't state exactly what it was that had her on edge besides that it did and it was about a strange man with black sunglasses.

 She said that the "Sunglasses Man" came to her in nightmares and that, in one nightmare she saw of him, she also saw fire. She couldn't say if there was one or two "Sunglasses Men" but she did say that she feared that said person would come after her, saying, "There are too many of the others but there's only one of Ryuuko and me, so he'll come after me. I don't want him to but he might~!"

  She said many things besides that but we didn't need her to say much else besides that she was afraid. I suppose she was confirming whatever thing we had feared. _Someone_ really was after her and, for all we knew, said someone had gone after Ryuuko, probably snagging her into their clutches.

I could only hope that they hadn't or that they failed in trying to grab her. As I ruminated on this, Nui went into something of trance before she said, _"Gunshots, blood, snow. **DEATH.**_ "


	30. In the Dead of Night

Barazo could barely sleep. Four nights out of the week, he would keep watch, with a loaded a shotgun. He usually kept the gun on safety but, when he stood watch, he would remove the safety. I feared for our safety but he was coherent enough to tell the noises from inside the RV and out of it. He told me that he was scared of the "weird dude" coming back and he'd be damned if he let anything happen to either of us.

At least, he was weary of the law. The law stated we could shoot anyone who threatens us or our property, thus, we couldn't take too much of a chance, especially with children being in our care. Obviously, we’d be damned if the strange man in gray came back, however, while we were scared, Ryuuko’s unease seemed to have been on a level higher than us. For reasons she couldn’t state, she was afraid, her fear translating into threats she would hurl into the night.

This lasted awhile until we discovered Ryuuko missing, throwing us into a panic. For all we knew, she could have been taken by the “weird dude” that Barazo had talked with earlier or she could have been killed. While we worried and contemplated as to whether or not we should contact the authorities or just look for her, she wasn’t gone long and had returned, in the night, blood frothing from her mouth.

While bruised, she didn’t seem to be too badly injured, showing that the blood from her mouth wasn’t hers. _Who could it have belonged to?_ We followed her eyes to the forest, listening to faint stirrings and moans. Without question, Barazo took the shotgun, aimed towards the forest, and shot into the forest twice. It was quiet again and Ryuuko seemed to be less agitated,

The next day, the authorities arrived. They found a body in the forest, said body being the “weird dude” Barazo had seen some time before. Everyone in the RV park told their stories, including us, with some details changed. They asked about Ryuuko, to whom I dressed in my daisy hoody, to keep her identity hidden, and we explained that she’s our niece and that she’s staying with us while her parents are getting settled, along with saying that she was very shy.

The authorities decided to rule it as "self-defense", seeing the circumstances, however, the coroner couldn't decide as to whether or not the gunshots killed him, as he had a few gaping wounds and chunk of flesh torn from him. They found the case confusing but, with no real harmful intent and the fact that we could have mistaken the sounds for an animal, there was nothing that could be done so, with that, they closed the case as soon as it opened.

 

        Yet, I felt there was the worse to come.


	31. Recollections

Eventually, Nui recalled her vision regarding a man with sunglasses. She recalled that there was more than one of those figures in her dream, however, she started to recall that they each wore something different. She stated that one wore gray, one wore white, and another wore black. She recalled that one wore, essentially, a lab coat, one dressed like a professor, and one carried a "suitcase" (she probably meant "briefcase" and can't tell the difference between the two).

  She then went on to explain that one was killed but, besides the gunshots she mentioned before, she couldn't exactly say what killed him and that he may as well had been "ripped apart". Like what killed him, she couldn't say who or what tore him apart but she did say that, whatever it was, it had reluctance and a level of determination. She explained that the one which tore gaping wounds into him had reasons and said reasons were justified beyond self-defense. As she recalled more of this, she remembered recalled that the figure in which rip one of those ominous figures apart was a child.

She said that, while one was gone, the other two still remained and she feared them, feared them finally finding us. Of course, that wasn't the only thing she feared, she feared herself dying, that she'd be killed for a purpose of a nightmare. The fear was so great I wonder if it’d kill her but she had a reason for being afraid.

"There are only two of us and they can't get everyone else." she said, citing the fact that the other children were reunited with their families, while we haven't too much a clue as to whether or not Ryuuko is alright nor where she was and the fact that she, Nui, hadn't anyone she could be returned to.

 

        The fact that the two escaped a raid that would have otherwise reunited us with Ryuuko but would cast an orphaned Nui to fate didn't make matters better.

 

        It served to make them worse.


	32. Daisy Hoody and Rows

Apparently, Ryuuko's decided that she liked Mom's hoody, a lot more than that skin, so she'd go outside with it. It covered her up and nobody guessed a thing about her, so she could come outside with me. We didn't do much but she liked making snowballs, however, she didn't throw them, just made 'em. She would line them up in little rows but I doubt she counted them.

It was kinda weird but it was something she liked to do and I would watch her. She didn't just do that with snowballs, as she did that with rocks and whatever else she could get her hands onto. She'd line them up in little rows, nice and neat. Pretty soon, the whole park had neat little rows of things.

  People thought that was weird but they just let her be, as she wasn’t bothering anyone. It was something that she did was all, even if nobody knew why. Of course, Ryuuko doesn't talk to strangers, if she talks at all, and, when she did, she never said why she lines things up in rows.

  She never did count the things she lined up in rows but I would. I lost count but I still kept counting.

She made it a habit to do that and I made it a habit to count them.


	33. The Stranger

Mam sent me out to fetch something from the local mini-mart. It was only a short walk away and I was given clear instructions to be wary of any strangers, especially ones wearing sunglasses and or carrying briefcases. Nui stayed behind in the mobile home, hidden from sight, her choice, no one else's. The mini-mart wasn't far, just about ten or so minutes away, and I hadn't much to obtain, just a few groceries.

As I had walked to the store, I felt my hair start to stand on end for reasons I couldn't quite pinpoint, regardless, something told me that someone of not good intentions. I made it a point to get what I had come there to get what I had went there to get quickly and leave, however, as I left, I was stopped in the middle of the path back to the mobile home, by a stranger in sunglasses and a briefcase. Whatever anxiety I had about now had quickly turned to fear and dread.

  He simply greeted me and asked me if I'd like to chat, go on a walk with him, or whatever something that would seem innocent. He told me that we won't be long and that it'd only take but a moment, however, I could tell that if I were to trust him, then I most likely would become a victim, another missing case like Nui or my sister. I tried my damnedest to stall him, insisting that I had to go or else my parents would worry.

I wanted to scream, to cry out for help, but I was terrified, too terrified to even move, let alone scream. After a good twenty minutes and the moment he seized my hand, I could hear my father's voice calling out "Satsuki?" The next thing I had known, the stranger was on the ground, writhing, there were policeman, and I was being held in my father's arms, as he was speaking to the police. He explained that my hand was in this stranger's and that said stranger had tried to kidnap me, so he was doing what he could to protect me and get me home.

The police weren't shocked, at least, not to heavy extent but they did look worried. They then told my father that they've received reports of this man menacing children but they've never been able to catch him before suggesting that my father take me to the hospital to check for any injuries. They took the stranger to jail, while my father brought me right back to the mobile home. I was shaking and crying by that point and I found myself unable to sleep a full night

 

        Likewise, neither was Nui.


	34. The Man in White

We eventually left the RV park for one in a warmer place, Nevada. Once again, Ryuuko was further on edge and so remained withdrawn. She’d peek outside but she’d never go beyond doing that. After a couple of weeks in the RV park on the outskirts of Las Vegas, there seemed to be an off feeling, as there was some man in white, claiming to be doctor and that he’s come to examine the children.

I should note that the idea is odd, considering there isn’t a reason as to why a doctor would want to assess a child’s condition outside of a hospital and, if any of the children were ill or needed a checkup, they’d be taken to a hospital, thus there isn’t too much of any reason as to why a doctor would knowingly volunteer to look at children outside of such setting. Of course, while he seemed like he meant well, everyone had reason to be suspicious of his presence, Ryuuko, especially.

   Ryuuko seemed to have found him familiar, as though she had seen him before. Likewise, she regarded his presence with silent hostility.  The moment he came near our RV, she hid away from view. My unease with him came even more because he headed right for our RV first and no one else's. We told them that our child was fine, that we didn't have insurance, and, if something were wrong with her, we'd take her to the hospital. He seemed to insist he'd come inside but we made it clear not to, threatening his well-being or  to contact authorities. He was deterred but stated that he'd return the next day. 

Later that night, Ryuuko had vanished and returned as oddly as she vanished with a severed arm in a white sleeve. It should be worth noting that she wasn't carrying it with her hands but with her mouth and, this time, she wanted to take us back to where she had gone to and come back from. While Mako slept and under the cloak of darkness, we followed her back to where she'd come from, whereupon she tossed the severed arm a couple of feet away.

She brought us back to the mangled corpse of the man in white and sunglasses. Like the bear and the mountain lion, his throat was ripped out by Ryuuko's teeth but, like his throat, he was torn to pieces, as though an animal had gotten to him. Besides tearing him to pieces, she also rifled through his corpse finding a notebook and a file, a file with her photo.

  Gingerly, she picked up the notebook and the file and we walked back to the RV, erasing our tracks and leaving the scene untouched, aside from a few missing items. The next morning it rained, washing away a good majority of any trace evidence left behind. The authorities happened upon his corpse and concluded it to be the work of animals, although they couldn't say what kind of animals.

 

        As for the file and notebook, we hid them away.


	35. Night Terror

Nui never could sleep a full night, especially since that incident with Satsuki and the stranger.  Of course, her nightmares turned into night terrors and none of us could console her. During such said night terrors, she mentioned something about a severed limb and mangled corpse, crying out that someone did that and that said someone would be close.

I listened intently and, in the next spasm of her night terrors she had, she said two of the strangers were dead, horribly mangled but it was clear one of them wasn't and, besides being in jail, there was a good chance he'd be at large if or once he makes bail or found not guilty of any charges. Of course, she feared that said stranger would once again be after us and, in one episode (she appeared to be fully conscious), she said Ryuuko was “somewhere close”, her presence being something she could feel.

   If her in her night terrors or ramblings she didn’t mention the man in with sunglasses, she seemed to be recalling prior memories, memories of the orphanage, her voice even changing to match what might have been the workers. She would scream out in protest, begging unseen presences to stop tormenting her or to say her grievances, asking for comfort or wanting to know why she was being put through so much pain.

Her flashbacks and terrors didn't say much but it led us to conclude that Nui had much to talk about and that we had to ask. At first, we didn't want to press her for answers but, due to all of this, we had to, had to reach a conclusion of what she knew. However, we didn't know how to approach the subject and we didn’t really need to, as Nui decided to tell us herself the full extent of what she and Ryuuko’s endured.

 She told us that she wasn’t far from a word that she couldn’t quite pronounce but, from the implications, she meant she would be euthanized. She didn’t quite say why she would have reached this fate but she did say that it was the fate of many others that weren’t “up to standard”, along with saying, “I got to stay because they were low on kids.”

She then went on to say that Ryuuko was one of the stronger ones but she couldn’t exactly say how besides that she had bitten another child and said bite looked like "someone scooped something" out of him. She told us that she was cut open and that she stopped feeling it by the next couple times, while Ryuuko’s flesh seemed to have toughened, preventing other such procedures, but it didn’t mean they weren’t subjected to injections or chemical tests.

  She told of how both of them, at different points, had fallen ill or had wounds that were allowed to fester to see how long they could withstand them or how long it took for them to heal. She, in enough parts, did mention a time where she and Ryuuko watched as a child was vivisected before asking exactly what a vivisection was, innocence having betrayed her.

  We didn’t really want to explain what that was to her but we did tell her that what she had seen was ghastly, the things of nightmares, along with out laments that she and Ryuuko had to go through any of that. Once she said what, what she could recall, she then asked if we’d send her away some place and saying that she was sorry for our misfortune, to which we told her that we didn’t want her to be alone and that is why she was with us, reassuring her that none of this is her fault.

She was just a child thrust in hellish madness and it was determined to make her linger.


	36. Sick

After a while of staying in the RV park place, Mom and Dad announced moving day to Ryuuko and me. We would move to somewhere much nice than Nevada, especially as the dry air seemed to be getting to Ryuuko. After Dad brought everything that she could, we got started on moving.

According to Mom, we were going to California. I don't know but, before we met Ryuuko, we always moved, always, for as long as I could remember. Ryuuko didn't know why but she didn't seem to mind either, however, she seemed to be more okay with it than either of us were. Of course, Ryuuko wasn't herself, well, too much herself, and just simply wanted to sleep. She did that a helluva lot more and Mom and Dad started to get worried.

I wondered if the move was just something Ryuuko had to get used to but, the moment we got in California, she reared her ugly head. Mom and Dad went back and forth over it but Mom was insistent that we go the hospital because Ryuuko wasn’t getting better but Dad was afraid that they’d go to jail because Ryuuko’s a missing kid and they haven’t reported her as found. Of course, we couldn't just leave her alone at the doors with a note but Mom and Dad could go to jail for keeping her and Ryuuko might never get to see her family. 

  We had to find Ryuuko's family but, if Mom and Dad go to jail, where would I go, what would happen to _me_?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna be like hella honest with this one, considering that I did do some research on this or, rather, I tried to.
> 
> You see, I googled "can you go to jail for harboring a missing child?" (or whatever somesuch, I can't remember the wording, exactly) and, unfortunately, I got answers relating to runaways, not children kidnapped years ago, so, for this chapter, exasperatingly so, I had to wing it and make assumptions, after all, if one can go to jail for not reporting a runaway in your care, it would be safe to assume the same could refer to a kidnapped child.


	37. Watching Through the Eyes of Another

        Ragyou seemed to be more on edge, so much so that she couldn't seem to sit still. She couldn't really state why she was one edge but, then again, she didn't have to say. She could sense Ryuuko's presence or some semblance of her being near. However, she wasn't the only one, as Nui seemed to have sensed it, too.

  However, the child was more apprehensive but, apparently, more weirdness started to come with her, as she started to go into one-eyed trances. Of course, the eye that would be open was the one she couldn't see out of. If that wasn't weird enough, she was describing bits and pieces of surroundings of what we could assume Ryuuko might be seeing.

  She would describe a girl with ruffled brown hair and said girl's parents, along with their living arrangements being in a mobile home and that Ryuuko was wrapped in blanket. Once she finished her statements, her face turned white and she whispered, _"Elle est malade."_ to which I asked for translation, in which case, she said Ryuuko is sick, very.

 She told us that she couldn't say if Ryuuko would be okay but she did say that the couple looking after her were going back and forth as to what they should do. She couldn't really say what exactly it was that they were saying, just that they were worried about her and that the matter was serious.

The idea of Ryuuko being sick sent Ragyo  over the edge and, without a second thought or saying, she left the mobile home.

 

We knew why.


	38. "Where's Mako?!"

It would seem that Ryuuko had mustered up whatever strength she could to let out something of a yelp. She seemed to be panicked and she had reason to be, as, to our horror, Mako was gone. Ryuuko's yelp was a garbled mess but it was clear that she was calling out for Mako, demanding, of sorts, to know where she had gone. She didn't leave anything that pointed as to where she could be going, which is very unlike her, as she'd usually leave something that would point to where she might be going.

  From what we could tell, Mako had left in the wee hours of the night but we didn’t hear her leave. With that realization, leaving Ryuuko behind in the RV and locking all of the doors and windows, we hurried out to find her. We were worried, as, for all we knew, Mako could have been snatched and, remembering that Ryuuko was kidnapped from her home in the middle of the night, we had even more to fear from that.

  Ryuuko was kidnapped for nefarious purposes and, whoever stole her from her family, for all we knew, would most likely still be out there, waiting to snatch another child. Mako is such a nice, silly, and sociable girl but she can be pretty unsuspecting and might trust the wrong strangers. Silently, I prayed that she’d find the right stranger who won’t cause her any harm.

* * *

I had to find Ryuuko’s family, that way, Mom and Dad won’t go to jail and that she could get better. Of course, I didn’t want her to go because I didn’t have anyone to play with or talk to on the road but Ryuuko’s sick and we don’t know where her parents are. I would want to find them but I hadn’t too much a clue of what to go on from a picture. Ryuuko’s gonna be awful sore at me from me taking it from her.

I needed it so I’d know what her mom looks like, at least.

* * *

I have very little recollection of what came over me but I know it was instinctive. It was almost as if Ryuuko had called out to me from afar and it seemed I could feel her presence. She or some clues that pointed to her couldn't be far. I scrambled around for awhile before I came across a little girl who looked rather lost. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to see if she was alright and that her parents could at least know where she was.

  Gently, I approached her and asked, "Do your parents know where you are?" She jumped, introduced herself as "Mako" and told me that her parents were asleep when she left. I was aghast and told her that we must get her home immediately, reprimanding her for leaving home without her parents' knowledge nor consent before telling her that her parents would be happy to know if she's alright. Without any hesitation, she took my hand and we struck up a conversation before she asked, "Are you 'Mama'?" 

  I found myself confused before telling her that I am _someone's_ "mama" but I'm not her mother. She nodded and responded that she knew before telling me, "Oh, I was asking for someone else."

"Who were you asking for?"

"Oh, my mom, dad, and me found a little girl and she couldn't remember too much."

"Okay--"

"But then we went to a house in the woods somewhere and she got a picture of I think her family before she started saying 'Mama'."

"What did her 'Mama' look like?"

"Oh, she looked like _you._ "

I was stunned and the wheels in my head started to turn at full speed. I had remembered something about seeing the world through Ryuuko's eyes and the family she was staying with. As I thought about this, Mako became sad and told me, "She got sick and I left to find her family so my mom and dad won't go to jail, so I wonder if you're her Mama because you look like the lady in the picture."

  Once she finished, she released my hand and pulled something out of her backpack. A framed photograph our family. I was in tears and, as I struggled to hold them back, I asked if she knew what the girl's name was and she answered, "Ryuuko." I almost fainted but I managed to regain my composure, at least, enough of it to try to get Mako to her parents. I would love to see my Ryuuko again but, surely, Mako’s parents needed to know that she was okay.

Gathering the girl in my arms, I asked her if she knew her parents' cell phone numbers, to which she produced something of an index card with scribblings of two number sets with the words "Mom" and "Dad" written in parenthesis. Picking her up, I made it a point to carry her to the closest place I could reach with a phone.

  Said place was a police department. Cradling the girl, I explained the situation, what her name was,  and that Mako needed to call her parents.

* * *

While we looked for Mako, Barazo got a call on his cell phone coming from a police department. On the other end was Mako's voice. She told us that she was safe, relieving our fears, but told us that a lady had brought her to the police station, which brought more questions than it did answers. She went on to describe the lady as "nice" and that she was unharmed before telling us that we had to get there right away.

We hurried to wherever the police department was, coming across Mako and the lady she was with. The lady didn't seem off but, however, she did look as though she was put through and wringer and grinder with her hair quite messy and dark circles and bags under her eyes. She greeted us with a "Hello" before asking if we were Mako's parents, to which we said, "Yes, we are." We asked about her and got the response of, "I'm Ryuuko's mother."

She showed us the photograph that Ryuuko had taken from the cabin some time back and pointed to herself, the woman holding the baby. We were stunned and never would have known that Mrs. Kiryuuin was in California.


	39. "I'm so sorry, my sweet."

We talked for a little bit before we felt a sense of dread. With Mrs. Mankanshoku leading the way, we made it as fast as we could to the RV. We heard a sound that made my heart drop and the voice I heard sounded familiar. That voice was screaming and the RV was broken into, along with being trashed. Whoever had broken into the RV had done so roughly right before we got there and, clearly, they were not far.

As though Satan himself was at his heels, Mr. Mankanshoku hurried into the RV and grabbed a shotgun before running after them in hot pursuit, saying, "I'm gonna get you, you bastard!" With us chasing after him, he fired a few rounds off into the distance. We were running after him and this person, until we were stopped dead in our tracks by a high-pitched screech. 

 To my astonishment, there came Ryuuko, limping from the dust cloud, bleeding, battered, and bewildered with the very same man who harassed Satsuki some time before crawling after her, a chunk of his arm ripped out. He was messed up something fierce and, despite being sick and injured, Ryuuko managed to keep ahead of him.

We called the authorities as soon as Ryuuko was close enough to us. He was once again taken away but we were still with trepidation, a fear that he might return.

  Without a second thought, we gathered up Ryuuko and hurried to the closest hospital. Doctors and nurses whisked her away before the head doctor came out to us and explained that she had been grievously injured, along with being seriously ill. Fortunately, her illness, while serious, wasn't inherently fatal and that she'd be well soon once treated quick enough but her injuries required more extensive treatment, especially since most of her injuries were internal. We couldn't see her for roughly six hours.

   It was, give or take, about 7pm or nearing twilight when we were allowed in to see her. She looked so small, frail, and was attached to so many things. She was stolen from us, had missed so much, and had to go through hell and back just to get this far. The doctors and nurses did all that could be done and we had only the best to hope for. Some part of me had to wonder as to how to tell Satsuki what happened or how to console her and Nui when I couldn’t even comfort myself.

I felt awful, an ache that no words could describe. If I could, I would have traded places with her just to give her even more fighting chance. I blamed myself for this, for why I failed to protect her those years ago. I let out something of a wail and collapsed to my knees. Her hand I had taken into mine and I started to tell how sorry I was, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, my sweet."  I told her everything I really wanted to tell her over the years but, more importantly, I wanted her to know that we loved her, forever and always. I talked until I couldn't talk anymore and, instead, I just held her hand and cried, until it was just tears.

As I cried, I started to hear her voice, _"Mama?"_ I thought my mind was playing tricks on me but I found her looking at me, with half-lidded eyes, saying, _"Mama?"_ I answered her, reassuring her that I was hear and that I had no intentions of leaving. She couldn't move much but I felt her hand tighten around one of mine. A few tears were in her eyes and, it seemed, "Mama" was the only word she could say.

  Just that much was okay. We were reunited and things could begin anew. Of course, I had to thank the Mankanshokus. They looked after her, took care of her, and endured madness just to get her back to us and to let them go without anything wouldn’t feel right. They were turning to leave but I called after them, saying how Ryuuko would love to see them and that I couldn't just let them go, especially since they had taken her in.

"Don't go." I said, "Ryuuko'd like to see you. Please don't leave, you all took her in and you didn't have to but you did and I wouldn't feel right letting you leave without anything." I went on to say how their mobile home was wrecked and I would like them to meet our family, that we couldn’t thank them enough. While I talked to Mako’s parents, the little girl hurried over to Ryuuko’s bed, taking her hand.

   With Mako not wanting to go, I would suppose they decided to take a seat and we began to talk.


	40. About The Kiryuuins

We started to talk like old friends, really. She introduced herself as "Ragyou" and then went on to say how they wondered for years as to what could have become of Ryuuko, before telling us about her oldest daughter, Satsuki. She told us that Satsuki was eight when Ryuuko was kidnapped and hasn't been the same since. "She never smiled again and, once, after Ryuuko was kidnapped, Satsuki got sick, really sick. Honestly, when she was hospitalized, I thought she'd die of a broken heart." she said, a glimmer of tears appearing in her weary eyes. 

"What was she sick with?"

"She came down with fever and a respiratory infection that eventually turned into pneumonia."

"I see."

"While she was sick, she became more philosophical, telling me, 'I'm empty, half, less. Life is but an existence and mine became this when they took her away'. She spoke less about how she felt towards the situation but it was clear she wanted to highlight how empty her life was. A good chunk of the pictures I have of her are shot horizontally and that was her insistence."

"You and your husband?" 

"We tried to put the pieces of life back together but, like Satsuki, our lives weren't the same. Some of our conversations would begin with Souichiro and I talking about when we first found out that I was pregnant with Ryuuko and then our first ultrasound appointment, when we first held her, her 1st birthday, and the last time we told her that we loved her."

"When was that?"

"When we put her to bed on the night she was kidnapped. She was so little then and I doubt she remembers that. It makes that worse."

"Oh." 

"Of course, while I prayed that she wasn't made to suffer, I had a feeling she would have been and that didn't become any more true when I heard of another girl who was taken and that she resurfaced in city over." 

"Another girl?" 

"Yes, her name is Nui Harime but she mostly remembers herself being called 'Marie' and she was kidnapped roughly around the same time."

"Ryuuko did call out for someone by the name of 'Marie' but, between garbled words and such, she didn't say who that was."

"Nui had met Ryuuko in a place dubbed an ‘orphanage’, where children were subjected to gruesome experiments. There was a raid on the complex but Ryuuko and Nui escaped.”

“What happened to Nui?”

“We took her in. She hadn’t anyone to go back to, as her mother had died some time ago, and we couldn’t stand the idea of her being alone and a ward of the state.”

 She told us more about her family, what they loved to do, and their lives before their daughter was stolen. Once she did that, she went to tell us more about Nui "Marie" Harime and about how, despite all the hell she put through and her weirdness, much of delight she is. "She's like a toddler, so innocent and wowed by the world she was kept from. Her mother would have loved to see how she's grown, to know that, despite it all, she's still here." she said.

 As we conversed, I noticed that Mako stayed snuggled to Ryuuko, clinging to her for dear life. Now that we thought about it, Ryuuko was really the first friend she'd ever made, as with us being on the move hadn't allowed her to go out and make friends. As I said before, letting Ryuuko go would be bittersweet. We had grown to love her and we've taken care of her but, in the end, we have to give her back, as her parents have suffered enough. To say that Mako didn’t know this would be a mistake but we knew she would be indignant with the idea. We wouldn't know how to break it to her that it was official that Ryuuko would be going home.

 

        As Barazo and I thought about this, Ragyo had other ideas, after all, she was so insistent that we'd stay and that she couldn't just let us go.

 


	41. "Lost" becomes "Found"

We waited for Ragyou's return before we got something of a phone call from the hospital telling us that Ragyo was there. Satsuki and I dreaded the worse but Nui seemed to be unusually perky about the whole thing, saying that we'd go. We slowly made our way to the hospital, praying that it wasn't bad news. I would guess Nui knew something about the situation that we didn't but whatever she had known she didn't say.

We got to the hospital and had a receptionist greet us, asking if we were there for a Ragyou to which we affirmed and she told us what room, saying, that to be quiet because "our little girl" was sleeping.  We were confused but we decided to see what she was talking about. Nui hurried ahead of Satsuki and I, meeting the rest of us at the door.

Quietly, we walked into the room and found Ragyou, sitting quietly, however, she had company, a family of three, with her. She introduced them as the Mankanshokus and Nui greeted them almost immediately before making a beeline for the bed. She explained that the Mankanshokus had looked after Ryuuko since they had found her and that Ryuuko was in the bed. 

She then went on to say that Ryuuko was in pretty rough shape and she's all but out of the woods. She explained that Ryuuko's illness wasn't inherently fatal, especially if treated before it progressed further, however, said illness was complicated by numerous internal injuries. The doctors did all they really could towards the matter, so we had to hope for the best. At least, we could be there for her now.

Quietly, we made our way to the bed. Between the beeps and whirring of the machines and stuck with tubes, she was sleeping so peacefully, almost as if nothing had changed. For a moment, I thought she was younger, the same little girl we had tucked in bed those years ago. As I mused on this, Sats looked, as best as I could describe, staggered and she had collapsed to her knees, the weight on her shoulders being lifted.  Besides us, her parents, Satsuki truly suffered the most in her sister's absence.

She was at a loss and wasn't initially sure how to interact with her but interaction would come when she lightly stroked her hair. She was startled when, without waking, Ryuuko’s clasped around hers. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen Sats look so frail. She's always acted older since Ryuuko was gone and, recently, she vowed to find Ryuuko before either of us die. We knew Ryuuko's kidnapping had done a number on her but, in that moment, it was abundantly clear as to how much of a number was done. Effectively speaking, whoever kidnapped Ryuuko had really stolen Satsuki, too.

After a little bit more time of sleeping, Ryuuko awoke, her eyes barely open. She was still tired but, regardless, she was awake. Her eyes immediately found Satsuki and, with whatever strength she could muster, asked, _"Ki?"_ Her experiences, it seems, have left her amnesiac but Satsuki, it seems, she could recognize, however, barely. She couldn’t recall her name but, from what we could see, just saying the last syllable was enough. The two got into something of embrace and they had held onto each other for dear life, as though the world would vanish and they didn’t want to be swept away from each other, along with it.

Ryuuko didn’t stay awake long, being so weak, and, thus, went back to sleep, clinging to Satsuki, still. Nui watched this display, content, before saying, "You've been _found_. You lost her but, now, you're found."


	42. "Loved"

**Music Playing:** _"[Where Heaven Ends](https://youtu.be/P4xMvo3P-AE)" by _ Alan Sylvestri

* * *

 

We awoke to the sound of Ryuuko's cries and to Mako hurrying off to get a nurse. Nui was rushed away, as Ryuuko had cried out. As Ryuuko cried out, singing a song of the language she and Nui had constructed, the latter awoke briefly and used whatever strength she could sing the final pieces of the song.

As Barazo and I could tell, Satsuki was at a loss, Mako was shocked, the Kiryuuins seemed distraught, and Ryuuko just seemed to heartbroken. Nui appeared to be fine the day before and none of us would have guess that anything was wrong. I would suppose that we all misjudged things so severely. We waited for two hours before a doctor and a nurse showed up, disheartened. With a labored breath, Ragyou asked, "Is she alright?"

The pair were very sympathetic and it was clear that Nui had a very good chance of not making it through the day. With Ryuuko in a wheelchair, still attached to medicines and such, we went to go see her. She wasn't attached to much and was barely awake. Not too long after we got there, Ryuuko seized her hand.

Faintly, Nui smiled before asking, "Am I dying?" We didn't want to tell her but she had already known. We knew that she knew this but we told her otherwise, Mako saying, "No, you're just awful sick and, when you get better, you're gonna go home with Satsuki and Ryuuko and you're all gonna play together. It'll be lots of fun."

"Will we go the beach, too?"

"Yes, dear, we'll go the beach, next year, in the summer."

"Will there be cake and things?"

"Yes, there will be cake and such, lots of nice things."

"And pink blankets?"

"Yes, and they'll be fluffy.

"See you all tomorrow?"

 In as clear a voice she could muster, Ryuuko, her longtime companion, to whom circumstance had torn her from, said, _"Yes."_   Like before, the former recounted her nonsense poem from before, with Nui uttering the last verse, _"Loved."_   As we sang a lullaby, Nui just closed her eyes again and went still. We held her hand as tight as we could but she just quietly slipped away from us.

Fate had already been cruel to the both of the girls but, as we could see, apparently, through some force or another, these two girls could no longer exist in the same world and, in the end, in a final act of love and devotion, Nui sacrificed her life so Ryuuko could survive.  Death was already going to take Ryuuko but had changed its mind and took Nui instead, a silent negotiation.  Ryuuko was found but, due to circumstances and to keep her that way, Nui had be lost. 

Her childhood was mostly stolen, her body had been painfully altered, she was very ill and injured, and, in the end, she couldn't have one thing. She would go onto live, to live a happy life with her family, but Nui was gone, her life traded for Ryuuko's. 

Ryuuko was reunited with her family but, in the end, she had lost out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nui's death, actually, was something a little "last minute", as I didn't plan for her to go but, somehow or another, the story made more sense with her dying, so, we bid her farewell.
> 
> In terms of the song, I actually bounced around on this one before settling on the track "Where Heaven Ends" from Forrest Gump.


	43. Epilogue

According to the Mankanshokus, Ryuuko had found a notebook on one those strange men's corpses and we quickly turned that over to the police. We didn't read what was in it, as it had what we already knew. Like many of those involved, the remaining one, the one who tried to take Satsuki, was sentenced, cementing that he was to never hurt anyone else again.

Nui's funeral was short but Ragyo and I thought it to be fitting that she'd be buried next to her mother, finally giving Nui's mother the closure she never got. In grief, our relief came from the fact that, before she passed, we had given her love and kindness and that she had got see Ryuuko, thus her final weeks weren't dismal and she wasn't alone. What caused her death and why had to go was something we never knew and probably wouldn’t find out but we guess that, after so long of being apart, when Ryuuko was in dire straights, the two could no longer exist in the same world, so Nui gave herself to fate.

  Ryuuko did, indeed, recover from illness and injuries but it was no doubt that she missed Nui. We would make it a point to take her to Nui's gravesite every spring. Satsuki and Ryuuko had much to catch up on and, for most of her nights home, she mostly slept in Satsuki’s bed. The whole experience and, in the event of losing Nui, seems to have made the both of them clingy, Ryuuko especially and she grows distressed if she doesn’t see Satsuki for a long period of time. In terms of other things, she's doing well, certainly, of course, she hasn't gotten to where she could attend school but her memories have slowly started to return and her speech has been getting better.

  In terms of Mankanshokus, we knew we couldn't leave them hanging and, especially in the light of Nui's sudden demise, Mako seemed adamant on wanting to be near her, so, without thinking much further, we came to the conclusion that their residence should be more permanent and gave some money to buy a house just a few blocks down the road.  Mako almost always makes a trip to come over and, if anything, she may as well live with us.

 Things mainly returned back to normal but the whole experience still leaves its marks. The damage done to Ryuuko, for the most part, can’t be undone, as she still has a long way to go before she is would be mostly normal and Ragyo had become rather overprotective of our children and Mako, too, determined to never lose the kids again.

 Through kidnapping and experiments, we lost our children but, through kindness and love, they were found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading ^_^


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